


I Got Your Back

by hazelNuts



Series: 13 Days of Halloween [1]
Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland, F/F, First Dates, Fluff, Halloween, Haunted Houses, I tried to make it scary, POV Clary, not sure how well I succeeded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 11:45:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8326672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelNuts/pseuds/hazelNuts
Summary: Clary is supposed to meet with Simon for a double date with Jace and his sister, Isabelle, but when Simon and Jace don't show, it's just her and Isabelle. She doesn't really mind.
  Clary weaves her way through the mass of people heading for the fair. She checks her watch. Only five minutes late, so that gives her about three more minutes before Simon explodes from nerves.
  
  Simon had called her last night, his nerves for his first date with Jace having brought him to the edge of panic. After only a minimal amount of begging, Clary had agreed to a double date with Jace’s sister, to be a buffer for Simon’s word vomit and anything else he might do to embarrass himself. Not that she thinks it’s needed. She’s seen the way Jace looks at Simon when he gets enthusiastic and starts rambling, and that look can only be described is lovingly fond.
(First fic for my 13 Days of Halloween multi-fandom fic series)





	

**Author's Note:**

> If you think I forgot any tags, please let me know in the comments.

Clary weaves her way through the mass of people heading for the fair. She checks her watch. Only five minutes late, so that gives her about three more minutes before Simon explodes from nerves.

Simon had called her last night, his nerves for his first date with Jace having brought him to the edge of panic. After only a minimal amount of begging, Clary had agreed to a double date with Jace’s sister, to be a buffer for Simon’s word vomit and anything else he might do to embarrass himself. Not that she thinks it’s needed. She’s seen the way Jace looks at Simon when he gets enthusiastic and starts rambling, and that look can only be described is lovingly fond.

With one minute to detonation left, Clary reaches the entrance to the fair. Not seeing Simon anywhere, she climbs onto one of the cinderblocks supporting the gate, hoping to get a better view. It’s the Saturday before Halloween, and half of New York seems to be heading for the fair, some of them in costume. There are a lot of superheroes, and classics like the wolfman and vampires. Two people wearing the exact same zombie costume pass right by her. Of her best friend, though, there is no sign.

Did she get the place or the time wrong? She digs out her phone to check. No, Simon definitely said they’d meet by the entrance at eight.

‘Clary?’ an unfamiliar voice calls out.

Clary looks down to find a girl looking up at her, and almost slips off her perch. Holy shit, the girl is gorgeous. Full lips, painted a bright red, are curled into a curious smile, and the girl’s dark eyes have a matching curious glint. Her face is framed by dark, soft looking curls that fall down her back. Clary takes a deep breath, then climbs down as gracefully as she can.

‘That’s me,’ she says.

Now that she’s on the ground, she can see that the girl is wearing tightfitting jeans and a low-cut purple crop-top, the hint of a tattoo just visible by her collarbone. Clary feels a little underdressed in her torn jeans and loose jacket.

‘Thank god, I thought I’d missed you. I’m Isabelle, Jace’s sister,’ the girl introduces herself, throwing her arms around Clary and giving her quick, tight hug. Her bright and genuine smile quickly makes Clary feel at ease again.

‘Hi. Where are the boys?’

‘Something happened with Jace. He’s fine,’ Isabelle quickly assures her when she sees Clary’s concerned frown. ‘But he and Simon decided to stay home and watch movies instead.’

‘So it’s just you and me?’ Clary asks.

‘ _Just_ you and me? Like we needed them to have fun,’ Isabelle scoffs. She offers her arm and Clary links their elbows with a laugh.

Isabelle is right, they don’t need the boys to have fun. Isabelle is funny and sweet, and when she smiles, which is a lot, Clary has a hard time looking away. As they make their way through the fair, they progress from linking elbows to holding hands.

‘They have a haunted house,’ Isabelle says, tugging excitedly on Clary’s arm.

‘You wanna go in?’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll protect you against the boogeymen,’ Isabelle teases, and presses a kiss against Clary’s cheek.

Clary is aware of how dopey her smile must look as Isabelle wipes off the smudge of gloss her kiss left behind, but she doesn’t really care.

‘How could I say no to that?’

The haunted house has two stories. The downstairs is PG-13, with creepy clowns and fake skeletons hanging from the ceiling. Everyone who’s in costume has to remove their mask to keep them apart from the actors. There is a surreal quality to seeing Batmans, Stormtroopers and zombies walk around with their faces uncovered.

The upstairs promises to be like every nightmare you’ve ever had come to life. A girl dressed as a seventeenth century maid is standing guard by the stairs to make sure no young kids can sneak up there. For Clary and Isabelle she steps aside, bobbing her head respectfully.

Halfway up the stairs, something grabs Clary’s ankle. She yelps and runs up the rest of the steps, pulling Isabelle with her. At the top, they lock eyes and burst into giggles.

‘Okay, let’s do this,’ Clary says. She grips Isabelle’s hand tighter and steps into the hallway, the wooden floorboards creaking under their shoes.

An audio track of screams, and rain pounding on windows and a wooden roof, plays through hidden speakers. White lights flash to mimic lightening, blinding them for a couple seconds at irregular intervals. The hallway is painted to look smeared with blood, and all the picture frames on the walls are smashed. In one of the flashes, Clary sees that all the eyes in the pictures have been coloured over with black ink.

Clary glances at Isabelle, who is almost vibrating with eagerness. _What a strange girl_ , she thinks fondly

The first room doesn’t seem to hold anything more than a bed, and a nightstand with an oil lamp on top. They pause by the door, leaning over the rope and into the room as far as they can. Snatches of screams and laughter from the people downstairs float up, draining some of the tension in Clary’s shoulders. It’s all fake. There’s no need to be—

With the next lightning flash a man shoots out from under the bed, dragging himself forward by digging his fingers into the floorboards. His eyes roll around in his head. A low moan gurgles in his throat. On instinct, Clary pushes Isabelle aside and plants herself in the doorway, blocking the man’s path. Another flash, and the man disappears underneath the bed again. It’s then that Clary sees the well-disguised rails in the floor. It was just a dummy.

She turns to Isabelle and gives her a sheepish smile.

‘I thought I was supposed to be the one protecting you?’ Isabelle asks, bumping their shoulders.

‘How about we take turns,’ Clary offers.

The second room has no jump scare. It can’t be called scary at all, really. It’s more sad than anything. There’s a small crib in the far corner from which muted cries can be heard. In the rocking chair next to it, there is the ghostly figure of a woman, looking helplessly at her crying baby, unable to console it. A chill runs down Clary’s back, and she quickly moves further down the hall.

The third and final room is an old nursery. Toys are aligned on shelves all around the room. There’s a comfy chair, a small bookcase, a dollhouse, a chest with stuffed animals and fake swords sticking out of it. In the middle of the room is a low, round table, with four chairs placed around it, and a tea set laid out on top. The four little chairs are occupied by different types of puppets. There’s a clown, a princess, a farmer, and an angel.

‘This looks kind of cute,’ Clary says.

She’s  barely finished her sentence when, as one, all the dolls turn their heads to stare at them with their empty, black eyes.

‘Come play with us,’ the princess puppet at the table squeaks.

‘Never mind,’ Clary says, taking a step back.

‘I’m drawing the line at possessed toys,’ Isabelle states. ‘You’re on your own with these.’

Clary chuckles, but doesn’t move away from the door yet. Instead, she waits until the dolls all turn their heads forward again, back to looking innocent.

She turns away from the room, but Isabelle isn’t next to her anymore. She looks in the direction they came, and sees Isabelle standing in front of the first room, looking right at her, body completely still.

‘Izzy?’ Clary whispers, and takes a step towards her.

Isabelle mirrors her movement, but it looks stiff and awkward.

‘Are you coming?’

Clary jumps and presses a hand against her chest. ‘Oh my god.’

‘Sorry,’ Isabelle apologizes with a grin.

‘Yeah, I bet you are,’ Clary snorts. ‘I thought you were over there.’ She turns back to the front of the hallway, but the Isabelle she’d seen there is gone. ‘Must have been a trick mirror.’

‘Really? There’s nothing now. I must’ve missed it,’ Isabelle says, sounding disappointed. ‘Speaking of mirrors, there is a funhouse across the way. Want to know what I look like with a balloon head?’

‘I bet you look really cute,’ Clary says, and follows Isabelle down the backstairs, out of the haunted house.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://fandom-madnessess.tumblr.com/).


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